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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (692014)	7/14/2005 1:37:02 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

Message 21505275

To: Hope Praytochange who wrote (692014)	7/14/2005 1:45:40 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769670

Re: "To be prosecuted under the 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act, Mr. Rove would had to have deliberately and maliciously exposed Ms. Plame knowing that she was an undercover agent and using information he'd obtained in an official capacity." Actually, that seems an incorrect reading of the law. Atrios provides the text of the actual law: the key phrase being “… discloses any information identifying” a covert agent." atrios.blogspot.com And, aside from this very narrow law, there are still administrative regulations against disclosure of classified information. The Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 defines the CIA employment status of an undercover CIA officer (which Valerie Wilson was) as "classified information." So by disclosing that Valerie Wilson worked at the CIA, Rove--wittingly or not--was indeed passing classified information to a reporter. Back to the law again.... In Cooper's email, Cooper reported that Rove had discussed "Wilson's wife." Maybe he didn't use her name in his conversation with Cooper. But this is irrelevant. Under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, it's a crime for a government official to disclose intentionally "any information identifying" an undercover intelligence officer. To commit a crime, it is not necessary to say the person's name. Noting that a person's spouse is a CIA officer is certainly identifying that CIA officer. After all, it would not have been too hard for Cooper--or any other reporter--to find the name of Wilson's wife; it was available on the Internet.